Princess Of The Skulls - Chapter 49: Chapter 49
You are reading Princess Of The Skulls, Chapter 49: Chapter 49. Read more chapters of Princess Of The Skulls.
The weight of the entity's revelation settled over me like a burial shroud. Through the swirling temporal vortices, I could see my companions watching with growing alarm as the containment field continued to deteriorate. Aldric's face was tight with concern, while Kael had drawn his daggers despite their uselessness against a creature of pure time.
"Someone has to anchor the binding," I called out over the sound of reality tearing. "The original ritual requires a willing sacrifice of temporal essence."
"What does that mean?" Lord Cassius shouted back, his military training warring with supernatural dread.
"It means someone has to give up their existence across all timelines," Dorian explained with his usual clinical detachment. "Past, present, and future—all erased to power the containment matrix."
The horror of it was absolute. Not just death, but complete cessation of existence. The person who made that sacrifice wouldn't just die—they would never have existed at all, erased from the memories of everyone who had ever known them.
Through our soul-bond, I felt Aldric's immediate determination. He was already preparing to volunteer, his noble instincts driving him toward self-sacrifice. But I couldn't let that happen. Apart from my feelings for him, his magical abilities were crucial for whatever other threats we'd face in the coming war.
"I'll do it," Kael said quietly, stepping forward into the edge of the temporal field.
"No." My voice carried the authority of the Armor of Echoes, stopping him in his tracks. "You're all too valuable for what's coming. There has to be another way."
But even as I spoke, I could feel the entity's amusement rippling through the temporal vortices. It knew something I didn't, some crucial detail about the nature of the sacrifice that it was keeping hidden.
Show me, I demanded, directing my consciousness deeper into the swirling possibilities.
The entity's response came as a flood of temporal images. I saw the original binding ritual performed by
Princess Seraphina the Fifth watched as she struggled with the same impossible choice I now faced. But there was something else—a detail that the previous princess had discovered at the last moment.
The sacrifice didn't have to be a living person. It could be someone already dead, provided their temporal essence remained strong enough to anchor the binding.
My grandfather's presence stirred at the edges of my consciousness, the corruption he'd left behind suddenly taking on new significance. He was dead, but his essence remained bound to my magical abilities through the necromantic heritage he'd passed down. His timeline still existed, still touched mine at crucial points.
"Grandfather," I whispered, reaching out through the family bond that connected us across death.
His response was immediate and filled with surprise. Child? You would use me for this?
"I would give you the chance to redeem yourself. To save the world instead of trying to corrupt it."
Through the temporal field, I felt his consideration of the offer. The entity watched our exchange with growing agitation, apparently realizing that its escape might be prevented after all.
The sacrifice would erase me completely, my grandfather warned. Not just from death, but from ever having existed. You would lose the necromantic heritage I gave you.
The implications were staggering. Without his magical legacy, I would be considerably less powerful. But I would also be free of his corrupting influence, able to develop my abilities without the constant temptation toward darkness.
"I know," I said simply. "Will you do it?"
His answer came not in words but in action. I felt his spirit surge forward through our connection, merging with the failing containment matrix. The temporal entity shrieked as it found itself suddenly bound by chains forged from a willing sacrifice of temporal essence.
But something went wrong.
As my grandfather's timeline began to dissolve, I felt pieces of myself going with it. The parts of my identity that had been shaped by his influence, the magical abilities that had come from his heritage, the very memories of learning necromancy under his ghostly tutelage—all of it was being erased along with his existence.
Through our soul-bond, Aldric cried out in alarm as he felt me fragmenting. Parts of my personality were simply vanishing, leaving gaps in my sense of self that the Armor of Echoes struggled to fill.
I'm sorry, child, my grandfather's fading voice whispered across the dissolving connection. I didn't realize the bond between us ran so deep. The sacrifice will take more than just my timeline.
The temporal entity, sensing opportunity in my weakening state, redoubled its efforts to escape. The containment field flickered as my grandfather's sacrifice proved insufficient to fully anchor the binding.
"Seraphina!" Kael was moving toward me, but the temporal distortions slowed his approach to a crawl.
That's when I felt another presence stepping forward—not my grandfather, but someone else whose timeline was intimately connected to mine. My mother's spirit, the warm presence that had guided me through so many dark moments, was offering herself to complete the sacrifice.
No, I tried to protest, but she was already merging with the containment matrix.
I love you, my daughter, her voice whispered as her existence began to dissolve. Live well. Choose love over power when you can.
The combined sacrifice of both my grandfather and mother created temporal chains strong enough to bind the entity completely. The swirling vortices collapsed back into a stable containment field, and the creature found itself locked once again in a single timeline.
But the cost was devastating. Not only were my parents' spirits gone forever, but pieces of myself had been erased along with them. Memories of my mother's guidance, the warmth of her love, the complicated relationship with my grandfather's dark legacy—all of it was fragmenting, leaving me feeling hollow and incomplete.
Through our soul-bond, Aldric was desperately trying to anchor what remained of my identity. His love and memories of me provided a foundation that prevented complete dissolution, but I could feel how much of myself had been lost in the sacrifice.
"It's done," I said weakly, stumbling out of the temporal field. "The entity is contained."
"At what cost?" Dorian asked, his inhuman features showing something that might have been concern.
I tried to remember my mother's face and found only fragments. Tried to recall my grandfather's teachings and discovered gaping holes in my magical knowledge. The Armor of Echoes was the only thing holding my fractured consciousness together.
"More than I expected," I admitted. "But less than it could have been."
Lydia stepped forward, her expression unreadable. "The first crisis is resolved, but this was only the beginning. There are sixteen more containment sites showing signs of failure."
"Sixteen more entities like this one?"
"Some worse," she confirmed grimly. "And now that you've used the temporal sacrifice technique once, it may not be available for future crises. We'll need to find other solutions."
As we prepared to leave the facility, I caught sight of myself in a reflective surface and barely recognized the person looking back. The Armor of Echoes had changed, incorporating elements from the dissolved timelines. I looked older, more alien, less human than when the night had begun.
But through the soul-bond, I could still feel Aldric's unwavering love. Whatever I'd lost, whatever I'd become, he was still with me. It would have to be enough for whatever came next.
The war against cosmic horror had truly begun.
"Someone has to anchor the binding," I called out over the sound of reality tearing. "The original ritual requires a willing sacrifice of temporal essence."
"What does that mean?" Lord Cassius shouted back, his military training warring with supernatural dread.
"It means someone has to give up their existence across all timelines," Dorian explained with his usual clinical detachment. "Past, present, and future—all erased to power the containment matrix."
The horror of it was absolute. Not just death, but complete cessation of existence. The person who made that sacrifice wouldn't just die—they would never have existed at all, erased from the memories of everyone who had ever known them.
Through our soul-bond, I felt Aldric's immediate determination. He was already preparing to volunteer, his noble instincts driving him toward self-sacrifice. But I couldn't let that happen. Apart from my feelings for him, his magical abilities were crucial for whatever other threats we'd face in the coming war.
"I'll do it," Kael said quietly, stepping forward into the edge of the temporal field.
"No." My voice carried the authority of the Armor of Echoes, stopping him in his tracks. "You're all too valuable for what's coming. There has to be another way."
But even as I spoke, I could feel the entity's amusement rippling through the temporal vortices. It knew something I didn't, some crucial detail about the nature of the sacrifice that it was keeping hidden.
Show me, I demanded, directing my consciousness deeper into the swirling possibilities.
The entity's response came as a flood of temporal images. I saw the original binding ritual performed by
Princess Seraphina the Fifth watched as she struggled with the same impossible choice I now faced. But there was something else—a detail that the previous princess had discovered at the last moment.
The sacrifice didn't have to be a living person. It could be someone already dead, provided their temporal essence remained strong enough to anchor the binding.
My grandfather's presence stirred at the edges of my consciousness, the corruption he'd left behind suddenly taking on new significance. He was dead, but his essence remained bound to my magical abilities through the necromantic heritage he'd passed down. His timeline still existed, still touched mine at crucial points.
"Grandfather," I whispered, reaching out through the family bond that connected us across death.
His response was immediate and filled with surprise. Child? You would use me for this?
"I would give you the chance to redeem yourself. To save the world instead of trying to corrupt it."
Through the temporal field, I felt his consideration of the offer. The entity watched our exchange with growing agitation, apparently realizing that its escape might be prevented after all.
The sacrifice would erase me completely, my grandfather warned. Not just from death, but from ever having existed. You would lose the necromantic heritage I gave you.
The implications were staggering. Without his magical legacy, I would be considerably less powerful. But I would also be free of his corrupting influence, able to develop my abilities without the constant temptation toward darkness.
"I know," I said simply. "Will you do it?"
His answer came not in words but in action. I felt his spirit surge forward through our connection, merging with the failing containment matrix. The temporal entity shrieked as it found itself suddenly bound by chains forged from a willing sacrifice of temporal essence.
But something went wrong.
As my grandfather's timeline began to dissolve, I felt pieces of myself going with it. The parts of my identity that had been shaped by his influence, the magical abilities that had come from his heritage, the very memories of learning necromancy under his ghostly tutelage—all of it was being erased along with his existence.
Through our soul-bond, Aldric cried out in alarm as he felt me fragmenting. Parts of my personality were simply vanishing, leaving gaps in my sense of self that the Armor of Echoes struggled to fill.
I'm sorry, child, my grandfather's fading voice whispered across the dissolving connection. I didn't realize the bond between us ran so deep. The sacrifice will take more than just my timeline.
The temporal entity, sensing opportunity in my weakening state, redoubled its efforts to escape. The containment field flickered as my grandfather's sacrifice proved insufficient to fully anchor the binding.
"Seraphina!" Kael was moving toward me, but the temporal distortions slowed his approach to a crawl.
That's when I felt another presence stepping forward—not my grandfather, but someone else whose timeline was intimately connected to mine. My mother's spirit, the warm presence that had guided me through so many dark moments, was offering herself to complete the sacrifice.
No, I tried to protest, but she was already merging with the containment matrix.
I love you, my daughter, her voice whispered as her existence began to dissolve. Live well. Choose love over power when you can.
The combined sacrifice of both my grandfather and mother created temporal chains strong enough to bind the entity completely. The swirling vortices collapsed back into a stable containment field, and the creature found itself locked once again in a single timeline.
But the cost was devastating. Not only were my parents' spirits gone forever, but pieces of myself had been erased along with them. Memories of my mother's guidance, the warmth of her love, the complicated relationship with my grandfather's dark legacy—all of it was fragmenting, leaving me feeling hollow and incomplete.
Through our soul-bond, Aldric was desperately trying to anchor what remained of my identity. His love and memories of me provided a foundation that prevented complete dissolution, but I could feel how much of myself had been lost in the sacrifice.
"It's done," I said weakly, stumbling out of the temporal field. "The entity is contained."
"At what cost?" Dorian asked, his inhuman features showing something that might have been concern.
I tried to remember my mother's face and found only fragments. Tried to recall my grandfather's teachings and discovered gaping holes in my magical knowledge. The Armor of Echoes was the only thing holding my fractured consciousness together.
"More than I expected," I admitted. "But less than it could have been."
Lydia stepped forward, her expression unreadable. "The first crisis is resolved, but this was only the beginning. There are sixteen more containment sites showing signs of failure."
"Sixteen more entities like this one?"
"Some worse," she confirmed grimly. "And now that you've used the temporal sacrifice technique once, it may not be available for future crises. We'll need to find other solutions."
As we prepared to leave the facility, I caught sight of myself in a reflective surface and barely recognized the person looking back. The Armor of Echoes had changed, incorporating elements from the dissolved timelines. I looked older, more alien, less human than when the night had begun.
But through the soul-bond, I could still feel Aldric's unwavering love. Whatever I'd lost, whatever I'd become, he was still with me. It would have to be enough for whatever came next.
The war against cosmic horror had truly begun.
End of Princess Of The Skulls Chapter 49. Continue reading Chapter 50 or return to Princess Of The Skulls book page.